Local health providers, neighborhood organizations, families, and local government officials joined NC Child in Concord to discuss social determinants of health, oral health, regional barriers to healthcare access, and overall child health outcomes in Cabarrus County. The convening represented the fifth stop on NC Child’s 2024 listening tour.
Congratulations to Paula Yost for receiving the 2024 Karen W. Ponder Leadership Award.
Paula Yost was named the 2024 Karen W. Ponder Leadership Award recipient during the Smart Start Conference in Greensboro in May 2024. A formal celebration was held on July 17, 2024 in Concord where Amy Cubbage, President of Smart Start, presented the award to Paula in front of a room filled with her family, friends, local representatives, and many others who have had their lives touched by Paula’s work.
The North Carolina Partnership for Children (NCPC) and the Smart Start Network developed Smart Solutions: Effective Prenatal-to-Five Investments, a virtual catalog of effective programs, interventions, and strategies. This catalog outlines over seventy options to support children prenatal-through- five as well as teachers, caregivers, and communities.
Smart Start is a network of 75 Local Partnerships that supports children, families, and teachers in every county in North Carolina. Each Local Partnership uses state funds allocated to the Network, as well as private funds, to support children and families. Smart Solutions is a catalog of all the options the Network uses to create better outcomes for children, teachers, families, and communities across the state using state funding.
Through funding from BlueCross BlueShield of North Carolina Foundation, NCPC has expanded Smart Solutions. Options include a comprehensive array of support for children, families, and teachers that focus on early care and education, family support, literacy, child and family health, and system building.
The Cabarrus County Partnership for Children has been named a Family Forward NC Certified Employer by the North Carolina Foundation's Family Forward NC initiative.
Launched in 2018, Family Forward NC is an innovative initiative to improve children’s health and well-being and keep North Carolina’s businesses competitive. It is employer-led change to increase access to research-based, family-friendly practices — big and small — that improve workplace productivity, recruitment and retention; grow a strong economy; and support children’s healthy development. To date, Family Forward NC has engaged with more than 6,900 employers across North Carolina.
A Family Forward NC Employer Certification designates employers that offer policies and practices that support the health and well-being of working families and children. To achieve certification, we look at employer benefits in the the following policy and practice categories: